Peace Nobel to Obama evokes strong reactions

AGENCIESOct 10, 2009, 02.25am IST

LONDON: The surprise choice of US President Barack Obama for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize evoked some sharp reactions, which dubbed the honour "premature", prompting the Nobel Committee to defend its decision.

A former winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, on Friday criticised the decision to award the prize to Obama. Northern Ireland-born Maguire, who won the prize in 1976 with fellow campaigner Betty Williams for organising peace marches in the violence-torn British province, said the award for Obama was "very sad".

The 1983 winner, Poland's Lech Walesa, said the honour has come "too fast" for Obama. "Sometimes the Nobel committee awards the prize to encourage responsible action," he said.

In the US itself, the media described the news as "surprising", "bold" and even "completely bizarre". The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, said Obama's "star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements".

America's arch-foe Iran described the selection as an incentive to Obama to "walk in the path of bringing justice to the world order".

Within minutes of the announcement, thousands of emails and messages were sent to news organisations. Richard, from Cardiff, wrote to the BBC: "How can the leader of a nation at war be given a prize for 'Peace'?" Jon Black from London wrote: "This is an absolute joke."